Volunteers are needed to serve as advocates on Polk County’s Adult Care Home Advisory and Nursing Home Community Advisory Committees.

The committees work in conjunction to serve as grassroots advocates for residents in local adult care homes and nursing homes.

The main role of committee members is to make quarterly visits to adult care homes and nursing homes to check on residents.

To carry out their advocacy duties, committee members receive about 10 hours total in training about residents’ rights in adult care home and nursing homes. Once they are trained, committee members are certified by the North Carolina State Long Term Care Ombudsman.

“There are two separate committees, but because there are three nursing facilities in Polk County and two adult care homes here, we’ve found it easier to appoint people to serve on both committees,” said Lori Simpson, regional long-term care ombudsman for Polk County for the Isothermal Planning and Development Commission.

Members are appointed by the Polk County Board of Commissioners for an initial one-year term. Once that term is completed, committee members may continue to serve three-year terms after that if they wish to be reappointed.

Five volunteers are needed to fill vacancies on the committees.

People interested in volunteering should contact Lori Simpson at 828-287-2281, ext. 222, or LSimpson@regionc.org for more information. Descriptions of the committees can be found on the Polk County local government’s website, polknc.org.

– Submitted by PolkNC.info